Crowds came out in droves on a beautiful Thursday evening in Gloucester as St. Peter’s Fiesta kicked off a busy upcoming weekend with their annual 5K road race.
It was a first-time competitor on the men’s side that made his mark by crossing the finish line first, and a talented Marblehead native who topped her impressive finish from a year ago with a win on the women’s side.
Matt Carter — who ran track at Gloucester High and served as an assistant coach for the varsity squad this past season — was that overall winner, clocking in at a speedy 15:36 to edge out Willy Pierce (15:46) and Nick Poulin (15:49). Kylynn McKinley wasn’t far behind, finishing in 17:35 to earn the women’s title.
“It’s my first win here, and actually my first year racing this,” said Carter, who ran at Connecticut College and graduated just last year. “I ran for the Gloucester track team through high school, came back here and coached the team this season, and some of them wanted me to come out here and race this so I couldn’t let the kids down. I had to win it for them.”
McKinley, who graduated from Marblehead High in 2005 before running at University of Maryland, set goals for herself to finish in the top of the pack before the race began — and she smashed those aspirations in what she called “perfect running weather.”
“This was only my second time here, I did it last year and loved it so I came back,” said McKinley, who finished 13th overall. “The atmosphere is just awesome.
“Last year I was third so I kind of wanted to try to be up in the top again. My goal was to go sub-18 (minutes), so I was pumped with my time.”
Like many of the other top competitors in the field, McKinley represented Notch Running Club out of Salem. She’s been running both competitively and for pleasure for years now — and this newfound event is something she plans to continue to enter for years to come.
“It was super exciting. The crowds here are the best so it’s just a really fun race,” said McKinley. “It was awesome.”
Carter, meanwhile, had his eyes set on first place from the jump. and he implemented a unique strategy to get the job done.
“I’ve run all these streets before at some point, I know the area well,” he said. “But I was basing my race strategy off of Willy Pierce (a gifted runner and staple in the Fiesta 5K road race), so my plan was to just sit on him until you come down on that uphill and then just drop the hammer on him.”
In total, over 1,300 individuals entered the race, with the crowds by Stage Fort Park and near the finish line by Oak to Ember trumping that number tremendously. There was live musical entertainment on stage following the race, as well as a podium-like celebration for the winners.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.